[Caffrey]

Isn't this thread really really old you wonder? It is. But there's a reason why I am reviving it.
A couple of months ago I was here complaining about the post service in my country and the fact that I didn't know how things were going to work from then on. Well today I finally received a card I've purchased at the start of the year. Luckily the card was in one piece.
I didn't receive it home. I had to go to a customs/post office, wait for a while, pay a little more and then I finally got it in my hands.
So after seven months of waiting, here it is
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Yes, I enjoy a little suspense
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[vgqv]

Wow, #1/2 very nice card. I wonder if Indiana will keep him? If Stephenson wants more money, Scola may be the 1 to go. I wouldn't mind if "Zenmaster" Phil Jax picks him up for my Knicks.

[arena_guy]

But let me be clear about something, we don't have a card industry here. Is either buy from other countries or don't get them. So I'm just hoping this doesn't force me to stop collecting.

Pardon me if this is a dumb question, but I'm interested to know how you found out about sports cards even being a thing? How did you get into the hobby if these types of cards aren't produced and/or available at all in your country?

[Caffrey]

Pardon me if this is a dumb question, but I'm interested to know how you found out about sports cards even being a thing? How did you get into the hobby if these types of cards aren't produced and/or available at all in your country?

And I'm back. Wow I really missed this forum.
Sorry it took me so long to answer this question. My health hasn't been the best lately.
Is not a dumb question at all. How did I get in the hobby? Well I don't remember exactly how I first found out sports cards were even a thing...
I guess it was American movies. But they usually show kids collecting baseball cards.
I myself collected stickers as a kid. We now have a mix between stickers and cards. But cards are still mostly bases and if they have inserts they look pretty similar to the bases.
So I wanted cards but I had no knowledge about baseball at least not enough to know what to buy. I knew the big names but those where totally outside budget and even then I wasn't very interested (at that point).
So I went a different route and I bought non-sport cards. I like TV and movies. So it seemed like an interesting choice. I tried it, It didn't work for me. There's no continuity there. The show dies, the collection dies.
And It's not like I can collect a particular actor. Imagine I collect... I'm trying to pick a good example here... Connie Britton. I buy what? An auto from "Nashville", "American Horror Story" but I have her RC from "Ellen". Not a manly enough example? Let's say The Rock. Excuse me Dwayne Johnson. Autos from "The fast and the furious" and "The Scorpion King" and a piece of memorabilia from his fairy costume in that Disney movie. My point is that it would be all over the place whoever you choose. That's good for an actor's career but difficult to build a collection around.
But then I found out that there were cards for other sports. I don't even remember how this happened (to be on the safe side lets blame that online auction place that starts with an E and ends with bay). But that became the perfect fit for my collecting focus. A game I knew and liked. Continuity, either with teams or players.
And so here we are now. With me wondering where I can find an affordable Scola/Ginobili/Prigioni triple patch card or why there's still not a Prigioni auto card. Or trying to find creating ways to storage the cards that I do have.
Sorry I went a little overboard with the answer. But I hope that answers your question.